FLIGHT

OPERATIONS
ENGINEERING

Applied Fundamentals:
Aero + Prop = Airplane Performance

AP, Page 1
 Applied Fundamentals:
Aero + Prop = Airplane Performance

• Review
• Level Unaccelerated Flight
• CL → CD → FNReq'd → FF → Power Setting → FM

AP, Page 2
 Review

• In previous sections we have discussed the

aerodynamics of an airplane. We have seen how to
quantify the airplane’s aerodynamic performance
with the most important qualities being lift and drag.
• In theory, lift and drag are not a function of the
engine – they are qualities of the airplane only.
• Knowledge of an airplane’s lift and drag
characteristics is essential for the calculation of any
kind of airplane performance, whether being
takeoff, climb, cruise, or whatever.

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 Review

• Next, we discussed propulsion characteristics. We

saw how to quantify the performance of an engine
with the most important qualities for airplane
performance calculations being thrust, fuel flow,
and power setting (EPR or %N1).
• These characteristics are a function of the engine
only, rather than the airplane.
• Now, let’s combine the airplane’s aerodynamic
performance with the engine’s performance to
begin creating “airplane performance.”

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 Level Unaccelerated Flight

• A large percentage of an airplane’s flying lifetime is

spent in cruise. Cruise is a condition of level flight at
a constant Mach, Cost Index or LRC.
• It is essential that we be able to compute the
performance of an airplane in cruise in order to
predict fuel consumption, required thrust settings,
fuel mileage, etc.
• Let us start by looking at the balance of forces on
an airplane in steady, level, cruise flight.

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 Balance of Forces

Lift

Thrust Drag

Weight

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 Balance of Forces

• In level, unaccelerated flight, the airplane flies in a

precise balance of forces:
– Lift equals weight
– Thrust equals drag
• If these forces were not in balance, then there would be
a net force in one direction or another, and an
acceleration in that direction would result.
• For level, unaccelerated flight to occur, the wing must
generate exactly enough lift to balance the weight plus
the downward force of the tail, and the engines must
produce exactly enough thrust to balance the drag.

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 Coefficient of Lift in Cruise Conditions

• If the weight, speed, altitude and reference wing area of an

airplane are known, then we can easily calculate the lift
coefficient using the equations discussed in Section 1. For
cruise conditions, the most useful form of the lift equation is:

L
CL =
1481.4 ∗ Μ2 ∗ δ ∗ S

• In level, unaccelerated flight, lift is equal to weight, thus, for

cruise conditions:
weight
CL =
1481.4 ∗ Μ2 ∗ δ ∗ S

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 Coefficient of Lift in Cruise Conditions

• Alternatively, if we know W/δ, we can also determine the lift

coefficient—and in this case we don’t need to individually know
weight and δ. This makes the calculation of CL independent of
any specific wt/altitude combination. Just move δ from the
denominator to the numerator.
weight/δ
CL =
1481.4 ∗ Μ2 ∗ S

• We refer to this as “generalizing on W/δ”. Generalizing

parameters can be a very useful technique. We will see that
we can often use this technique to reduce a given number of
airplane performance variables to a more manageable size.

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 Coefficient of Drag in Cruise Conditions

From our earlier discussions we know that after calculating CL,

we can determine the corresponding value of CD from the
drag polar.

Lift
Coefficient Recall that for low-speed
CL flight, the drag polar
is a simple relationship
between the lift and drag
coefficients, and is not
dependent on
Mach number.

Drag Coefficient, CD

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 Coefficient of Drag in Cruise Conditions

• Also recall that for high-speed flight, the Mach number

begins to affect the drag coefficient for a given lift
coefficient. This is due to shock wave formation on the
wing along with compressibility effects.
• The high-speed drag polar, therefore, is a relationship
between lift, drag, and Mach number as shown on the
following page.

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 Coefficient of Drag in Cruise Conditions
Mach Number Effect on High-speed Drag

.6 and below 0.7 0.8

0.9

Constant
CL Mach Number Constant CL

CD CL1

CL2

CD Mach Number

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 High-Speed Drag

• Therefore, for any given speed, weight and altitude we can

determine the total drag, and hence the thrust required to
maintain level, unaccelerated flight under those conditions:

Thrust Req'd = D = CD ∗ 1481.4 ∗ Μ2 ∗ S ∗ δ

• Alternatively, we could “generalize” on D/δ . For any given

W/δ and speed, we could determine the D/δ, and hence the
Thrust/d required for unaccelerated flight:

(Thrust
δ
) Re q' d
= D = CD ∗ 1481.4 ∗ Μ2 ∗ S
δ

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 Thrust Required Chart
Refer to 7X7 PEM, Section 2, Pages 2.20 and 2.21

• This chart is a typical “thrust required” type of chart taken

from the 7X7 PEM.
• The chart shows total drag/δ as a function of Mach number
and weight/δ.
• This chart is especially useful because it is valid for all
weight/altitude combinations. It has been “generalized” by
using weight/δ and drag/δ instead of weight and drag.
• The chart can be used in determining: fuel flow for a given
weight/altitude/speed; speed for minimum drag; required
thrust settings; developing fuel mileage data; and so on.
• Use of this chart eliminates the need to do the weight-to-CL-
to-CD-to-drag calculation; it is already included in the
creation of the chart.
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Question #1:

Let’s do a thrust required calculation for the 7X7 using the

airplane drag polar and see if we can agree with the data
published in the PEM chart of Section 2, page 2.21.
Conditions: 7X7 in cruise at Mach .79
37,000 feet altitude, standard day
weight = 130,000 pounds
7X7 reference wing area = 1,341 ft2
Continued on next page

AP, Page 15
Question #1 (continued):

Find: δ
weight/δ
CL
CD (from PEM Section 2, page 2.13 and 2.16)
drag/δ (Compare to PEM, Section 2, page 2.21

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 Calculating Fuel Flow and Thrust Setting for
Level Flight

• Let’s continue the calculations of Question #1 and

determine the fuel flow and required thrust setting for
this condition.
• We know drag/δ. For steady-state cruise, thrust equals
drag. Therefore, each engine must produce 36,450 ÷ 2
= 18,225 pounds of thrust/δ.
• We have everything we need in order to calculate fuel
flow and %N1 required.
• In the 7X7 PEM, Section 3, page 3.23 is the chart of
standard day fuel flow versus thrust/δ for an altitude of
37,000 feet. From this chart, at a thrust/δ of 18,225
pounds, Mach = .79, the fuel flow is 2,495 pounds per
hour per engine.

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 Calculating Fuel Flow and Thrust
Setting for Level Flight

• Now, let us determine the thrust setting required to produce the

18,225 pounds of thrust/δ required per engine to maintain level,
unaccelerated flight.
• In the 7X7 PEM, Section 3, page 3.16 is the generalized thrust
chart. For a thrust/δ required of 18,225 pounds, at a Mach
number of .79, the %CN1 required is approximately 94.38.

x = .475 (from page 3.16 )

Χ
%N1 = %CΝ1 ∗ θΤ

= (94.38 )(.8458 ).475 θ ΑΜΒ = .7519 @ 37,000 ft, std day

= 87.16% (
θΤ = θ ΑΜΒ 1 + .2 ∗ Μ 2 )
(
= (.7519 ) 1 + .2 ∗ (.79 )2 )
= .8458
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 Fuel Mileage in Cruise

• Fuel mileage on an airplane is exactly the same concept as

fuel mileage on a car.
• For a car, the fuel mileage is the distance you can drive per
gallon or liter of fuel. The fuel you will consume if you drive a
given distance can be estimated by dividing the distance by
the fuel mileage.
– For example:
– Car burns about 1 gallon per 30 statute miles
– Planning on driving 150 miles
– Estimated fuel used = 150 ÷ 30 = 5 gallons
• Airplanes work in the same way.

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 Fuel Mileage in Cruise

• If you know the fuel mileage of an airplane in cruise, you can

calculate the fuel which will be consumed to fly a given distance.
• Fuel mileage is distance flown per unit of fuel:

NAM
Fuel mileage = (kilograms can just
pound
as easily be used)

This can be re-written as:

NAM NAM hours

= x
pound hour pound

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 Fuel Mileage in Cruise

NAM NAM hours

x
pound = hour pound

j ust Th
is is i
This irspeed s
of f the
u e a uel inv
tr flow erse

Thus, fuel mileage equals true airspeed divided by fuel flow:

NAM VTAS
Fuel mileage = =
pound WF

AP, Page 21
 Fuel Mileage in Cruise
Refer to 7X7 PEM, Section 5, Page 5.13

• The referenced PEM page is a chart of fuel mileage for the

7X7 airplane, showing how fuel mileage varies with speed and
weight.
• To continue our example calculations from the previous
pages:
– We have calculated that the fuel flow at FL370, Mach .79,
standard day, and 130,000 pounds is 2,495 pounds per
hour per engine; or, 4,990 pounds per hour total fuel flow.
– The true airspeed for these conditions would be:

TAS = M x a = M x ao θ

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 Fuel Mileage in Cruise
Refer to 7X7 PEM, Section 5, Page 5.13

TAS = M x a = M x ao θ
273.15 –56.5
TAS = .79 x 661.4786
288.15
TAS = .79 x 573.57 = 453.1 knots

Thus, the fuel mileage would be:

VTAS 453.1 NAM
Fuel mileage = W = 4990 = .0908 pound
F

Compare this to the value read from the PEM fuel mileage chart.

AP, Page 23
Question #2:

• In The Aerodynamics section, topic 13, we calculated

the effect on drag of an increase in temperature from
ISA to ISA +20 °C. The conditions for the cruise
calculations we just completed here for lift and drag
coefficients, drag, fuel flow, and %N1, are the same.
• Now, let’s look at the effect an increase in temperature
from ISA to ISA +20 °C has on fuel flow and fuel
mileage.
Continued on next page

AP, Page 24
Question #2 (continued):

Finish filling out the table on the following page. Values

which have already been calculated have been filled in for
you, values noted by ‘?’ need to be completed.
Weight = 130,000 lb
Mach = .79
Altitude = 37,000 ft
Assume unaccelerated cruise conditions

AP, Page 25
 ISA ISA +20 change

Speed of sound (knots) 573.6 ? -

True airspeed (knots) 453.1 ? ?

Drag (pounds) 7793 7879 ?

D/δ (pounds) 36450 ? -

D/δ per engine (pounds) 18225 ? -

Fuel flow (lb/hr/eng) 2495 ? ?

Fuel mileage (NAM/1000 lb) 90.8 ? ?

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End of “Aerodynamics + Propulsion
= Airplane Performance”

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